Our exhibition highlights the working practices and the shared visual language of the celebrated European Modern Master - Joan Miró, and the esteemed American Post- War abstract expressionist - Sam Francis. Each artist has contributed greatly to countless artistic movements of the twentieth century, organically evolving and reflecting on their own artistic journeys. The selection of works celebrates the link between these artists and, amongst others, the Lyrical Abstraction movement; it is not one of imitation, but one of innovation. Our eyes and our minds are instantly drawn to make sense of what we see before us; however, instead we are enchanted and entranced by the lyrical blending of forms, space and colour. Miró creates landscapes and portraits where we recognise neither, but instead are greeted by his vision of expression. Francis explored the painterly style and we see in these lithographs a direct correlation to his acrylics - his command of the brush is as present on the lithographer’s stone.
‘What we want is to make something that fills utterly the sight and can’t be used to make life only bearable.’ Sam Francis Both Miró and Francis are regarded as excellent colourists and were careful to choose media that could best realise their artistic visions. Whether this was traditional lithography or monotype printing, each artist thrived on and relished pushing the accepted methods of expression to new heights. In the latter years of Miró’s life he worked almost exclusively with printmaking and concerned himself with the exploration of coloured fields. Francis repeatedly pushed the boundaries of scale and process to master the monotype technique and raise the status of lithography amongst his American peers.
